brandyschillace.comhttps://brandyschillace.com
Author | Historian | Adventurer at the IntersectionWed, 21 Nov 2018 19:06:15 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.3A little Frankenstein for your October…https://brandyschillace.com/a-little-frankenstein-for-your-october/
Wed, 10 Oct 2018 16:27:08 +0000http://brandyschillace.com/?p=2043Perhaps you were just thinking to yourself, I wish there was some way I could hear more weird science... Something slightly ooky and kooky perhaps? Maybe some disembodied heads and missing brains? Well, have I got a deal for you. How about some #Frankenstein as we approach #Halloween? Join us at @hiramcollege on Tuesday Oct 16th at 7!

]]>Appearing at Fibonacci Foundation STEAM Conferencehttps://brandyschillace.com/appearing-at-fibonacci-foundation-steam-conference/
Tue, 24 Jul 2018 19:45:52 +0000http://brandyschillace.com/?p=2028“I jokingly tell people that I’m an adventurer of the intersection ...I just can’t seem to stay in one field for some reason.” Many thanks to the Fibonacci Foundation STEAM Conference for inviting me to be a keynote, and to the Utica Observer Dispatch for carrying a story on my presentation (and my favorite book, Moby Dick)

]]>Many thanks to the Fibonacci Foundation STEAM Conference for inviting me to be a keynote, and to the Utica Observer Dispatch for carrying a story on my presentation (and my favorite book, Moby Dick). Sometimes, humanities are thought of as “the fluffy bit of science” instead of a partner with it, when in fact, it’s “deeply important to how we construct our world.” Want to read more about it? See the link below. Or–better yet–come down to Rome, NY for STEAM!

]]>New Book Deal!https://brandyschillace.com/new-book-deal/
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 20:39:26 +0000http://brandyschillace.com/?p=1996I'm thrilled to announce that my next book will come out with Simon & Schuster! In another of life's lessons that truth is stranger that fiction, I'll be telling the remarkable story of a monkey's head, the Pope's neuroscientist, and an international quest to transplant the soul. There's a two headed dog, too, just for good measure.

I’m thrilled to announce that my next book will come out with Simon & Schuster! In another of life’s lessons that truth is stranger that fiction, I’ll be telling the remarkable story of a monkey’s head, the Pope’s neuroscientist, and an international quest to transplant the soul. There’s a two headed dog, too, just for good measure.

It’s not everyday someone hands you a research notebook covered in monkey’s blood. But so begins my foray into the strangest scientific experiments of the modern era. MR. HUMBLE AND DR. BUTCHER follows the unprecedented work and life of Dr. Robert White from his first surgery (an operation on a frog at the age of 15) to his final bid to perform a human head transplant before his death in 2010.

Yes. A head transplant.

We tend to give precedence to the brain, and so long as our consciousness remains intact, we are we. But should we have that brain removed from the body that houses it—well, that’s another story. In fact, it’s this story. “We discovered that you can keep a human brain going without any circulation,” said Dr. White. “It’s dead for all practical purpose — for over an hour — then bring it back to life. If you want something that’s a little bit science fiction, that is it, man, that is it!” MR. HUMBLE AND DR. BUTCHER will tell the incredible story of a “Frankenstein” event, the world’s first successful primate head transplant, but also how this bizarre encounter shaped, and in fact inaugurated, life-saving technologies that still saves lives today. The book will also explore a mystery that still begs solving: if you make a brain to live outside a body, what becomes of the self? Or as White puts it, “Can you transplant the human SOUL?” And finally, this story will follow a contest every bit as determined as the space race: the Cold War contest between Russia and America to perform the first head transplant in a bid to overcome mortality and to bestow life.

]]>Forensics, Crime, and Charming Disasterhttps://brandyschillace.com/forensics-crime-and-charming-disaster/
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 13:59:40 +0000http://brandyschillace.com/?p=1824Did you miss the April 20th event? A quick summary of the fun and the madness: Let’s be frank. When it comes to goth and crime and forensics, I’m always ready to talk. This time, however, I teamed up with the Brooklyn-based folk-noir duo Charming Disaster for a unique evening of music and forensic science […]

]]>Did you miss the April 20th event? A quick summary of the fun and the madness:

Let’s be frank. When it comes to goth and crime and forensics, I’m always ready to talk. This time, however, I teamed up with the Brooklyn-based folk-noir duo Charming Disaster for a unique evening of music and forensic science history at the Euclid Tavern. Given the subject of the lecture, it made perfect sense that Charming Disaster would also be on the bill. The band’s songs address themes like love, death, crime, ancient mythology and the occult. The band cites the gothic humor of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the noir fiction of Raymond Chandler, American murder ballads and the “dramatic flair” of the cabaret as inspirations. Its paranormal love song, “Ghost Story,” was even featured on podcast “Welcome to Night Vale.” And speaking of ghost stories…I told one. That isn’t’ even the fun part. I TOLD a ghost story (about the ballad of Ginger Jake) and had audience members MIME the action. We had Stanley, the crooked pharmacist who spiked his prohibition cocktails with a paralytic, we had Ned and Ed, the policemen on his tale, and we had The Salesman from Someplace Hotter than Georgia. Filming alone could not have done justice to the way these intrepid audience members stole the show. A great set of music, a “guess the murderer” game, and a Tarot card reading. You want your science history with a side of weird? We certainly had your hook up. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll do it again next year…

]]>Medical Humanities and Social Justicehttps://brandyschillace.com/medical-humanities-social-justice/
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:37:53 +0000http://brandyschillace.com/?p=1817I want to invite your attention to the inaugural issue of Dósis, an online blog and magazine dedicated to exploring the intersection of medical humanities and social justice. The web-only publication offers three issues annually featuring essays, commentary, and reviews clustered around a particular theme. In addition, the blog will run news and notes on […]

]]>I want to invite your attention to the inaugural issue of Dósis, an online blog and magazine dedicated to exploring the intersection of medical humanities and social justice. The web-only publication offers three issues annually featuring essays, commentary, and reviews clustered around a particular theme. In addition, the blog will run news and notes on relevant current trends in medical humanities and social justice. It’s not a specifically academic platform, but more a community and social justice platform considering angles of MH. Maybe we could put a notice on the MH Blog, Anna, under our CFPs and news (since there is a CFP for the summer issue, also).